Vulnerable
by Jaggarte x
Summary: Hinata finds a wounded Sasuke near Konoha and takes care of him before taking him into Konoha. Sasuke has just fought Itachi but was never picked up by Madara, never explaining the Uchiha massacre. Kakashi becomes suspicious. SasuHinaKaka.


**Vulnerable**

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**Summary: Hinata finds a wounded Sasuke, barely clinging to life. He's managed to get close to Konoha after his fight with Itachi but before Madara was able to explain the Uchiha massacre. Hinata doesn't want to take him back to Konoha until he's better so takes care of him. Kakashi gets suspicious of the Hyuuga's continual disappearance. SasuHinaKaka.  
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**Disclaimer: Hello, I'd just like to introduce myself to you all, my name is Kishimoto and I actually own Nar- what? I'm sorry? What was that? Time to wake up? Sorry, didn't catch that last part. Oh. Or get sued. Right. Ok. Yep. Well, my name is Jaggarte (not my real name but let's just get over that for the moment shall we?) and I own my name, my car and laptop. I do not remember any time in my life raising the money to buy Naruto and I'm sure I could spend the money on other things - such as never working a day in my life again.  
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**Also: Rated because of eventual, eventual lemon and blood and description of injuries. **

**I can't believe I'm doing this. Opening a new can of worms like this. *sigh* I just can't help myself it seems. Don't expect constant updates, I'll do my best but I don't want you to get upset because I didn't tell you! Enjoy!  
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**Chapter One: Wounded**

It's the sort of day that would better be left forgotten.

The bright, burning sun is covered by a large mass of dark grey clouds but the heat is still blasting through, creating a horrible humidity that makes the hair on heads cling to necks and makes sweat run rivers down bodies. Temperaments are running high, the sun, an oblivious instigator, irritates people so much that a few small fights break out all over the Fire country. The shade from the trees gives scarce relief to the few that sit under them, thinking that the foliage would block the heat from coming through. Instead the branches hold still as the air grasps and holds onto everything within its vicinity, choking and strangling it within an inch of its life. The lack of breeze and fresh air is maddening and the many that are outside, bearing the brunt of the day, cannot wait for the inevitable storm that is coming that night.

All go about their day, unaware of a young man trailing through the forest a few hundred metres away from the hidden Leaf Shinobi village, passing slowly, stumbling but silent.

He's a mess.

His steps falter as he slowly comes closer and closer towards the town of his birth, his hands grasping for purchase on every tree he manages to limp by, leaving smears of blood on each piece of bark he touches. His medium length, black hair sticks out at odd places, encrusted with twigs, dirt, sweat and blood. Chapped lips catch on each other as he breathes through his mouth, trying to catch on to each breath, holding it in his lungs for a moment till he gasps it out, grasping hold of the next breath he struggles to get. His clothes are shredded, hanging on by threads and faith and his feet are bare, covered in scratches and deep cuts from the hard road he's been trekking, the sandals once worn now lost in a bog somewhere along the way, maybe a week down the track, or maybe it's been a day or an hour, he's not sure anymore. Mud clings to his skin and sweat and blood intermingle to create a ghastly parody of tattoos along his torso, arms and legs. His eyes, once full of direction and a sense of self-awareness, show nothing but regret, loneliness and self-loathing. A deep pain has settled all the way inside of him and it shows in his bearing. His back is hunched, his head is down and his eyes are directed to the ground just concentrating on the next step, the next stumble.

He was once a proud shinobi, called genius by his peers.

He was a good person.

He was Uchiha Sasuke, brother of Uchiha Itachi, son of Uchiha Fugaku.

And so he walks till he can bear it no longer. The wind which before was so stagnant now turns and comes to cools his face, lifting his hair from his eyes allowing him to see what once used to be his home and bringing a scent of the coming rain.

He could see ahead of him that the gates are wide open but he knows he won't be able to reach them. They almost seem like a mirage, there but not really there and even if he could, by some miracle, enter the village, he'd never be able to just _walk _into the place he'd deserted. He wasn't even sure why he'd come here but on some subconscious, stubborn level this was a place to go, a refuge, sanctuary.

It was home.

The wounded and injured man falls to his scarred knees beside an old tree, unable to carry on any further as he watches the blood drip from his brow and land on the ground, content with the thought that he had one last look at Konoha, one last look at what could have been.

His hand trails down the tree as his body shuts down, leaving brown and red marks on the bark as he lands face first in the dirt. He doesn't feel the pain, doesn't feel anything, as he lies just off the road under the dark grey clouds, thinking of what could have been, what should have been and what could never be.

'Here lies Uchiha Sasuke,' He thinks to himself, lips turning upwards in a grimace, 'Once an avenger, a hero, an ally and a friend. Now; murderer, fool, traitor, enemy.'

His eyes finally soften as he drifts into unconsciousness under the shade of the tree, the marks of blood seeping into the bark and drying almost instantly, marking the Uchiha's fall. The breeze picks up again and twists his clothes around his prone body, he imagines that it's preparing him for an unmarked grave; the wind turning his dilapidated clothes into burial cloths. Tattered remains of his shirt twist and angle in the wind above him and he watches them for a moment before he closes his eyes for what he supposes to be the last time.

Flying for a few more moments in the air, the shirt comes down on top of the shinobi's face, covering him from the elements and the curious gazes of any animals on their way to shelter from the coming storm.

Here lies Uchiha Sasuke, once a son, once a brother.

Now alone.

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Indigo hair sweeps in front of pale and tired eyes before being pushed back by a delicate and blue veined hand.

The humid and generally horrible weather had made the journey back to the village a slow process. Every jump from tree to tree was weighed down with the stark and slow moving wind and the kunoichi had to stop on a tree branch to compose herself and to check her pack before heading off again. It was here, when she stopped, that the first spatter of rain started.

She watched for a while, her almost-white eyes mesmerised by the fall of the large drops landing on the branches, leaves and forest floor. It was times like these that she liked best. Times where she could be in a peaceful isolation away from the day to day problems and away from the life she lived. A life filled with drama and unneedful distractions; so it was here in this moment, this moment when nothing really mattered anymore, that she could feel completely at ease.

The wind blew now, hard, pushing the young woman so much that she had to grab hold of the trunk of the tree she was crouching on to regain her balance. Looking down, she searched for a safe place to land, mindful of the fact that jumping along slick branches wouldn't be the safest route to take at the moment, even with her chakra. It also gave her a great excuse for taking some more of her time before rushing home to report her on mission, before going to back to her ordinary life.

She was suddenly knocked out of her thoughts as she noticed something out of place on the forest floor.

At first she assumed that it was a log or some other nondescript piece of forest life but as she looked harder she realised that it was a bundle of clothes. Trying to think of a reason why a bunch of clothes would be laying underneath her the kunoichi activated her family's bloodline, the Byuukagan.

As her eyes tensed and the veins around her eyes bulged forth, her brow furrowed in concentration. The kunoichi almost missed the little bit of chakra that was buried underneath the ragged clothes. Sensing for a trap, the Konoha shinobi dropped from her branch and hit the forest floor without a sound. Scanning the area she slowly rose to her full height and walked towards the bundle.

Completely aware and hypersensitive to the smallest of sounds and sights the young woman carefully pulled back the piece of cloth that covered the person's face.

Dirt had mixed with water and, as she turned the body over, she could see that the man's face was covered with mud. She also noticed that the mud had seeped into the many injuries that covered what she could see of the man's skin. His hair was also covering his face and she knew then that this was no trap; this man needed urgent medical attention.

Pushing her fingers to his pulse in his neck, the leaf shinobi checked to see how close to death he was. She could see through her Byuukagan that he was still alive, though barely, as his chakra was still existent but she needed to know if she could do anything to help him survive the trek to her village.

The dark haired woman started to worry as she realised that she had less time than she had thought as she felt his pulse grow steadily weaker under her fingertips, so she secured her pack to her waist and bent to pick up the injured man. Heaving him to his feet, the young woman had to call in her reserves of strength and entertained the thought of how easy this would be if she had her team mates with her to help. She slowly managed to get the man steady and made his back lean against the trunk of the tree while she checked to make sure that moving him hadn't caused any damage.

While the man slumped against the tree, the rain slackened and the remainder of the water was held off by the branches extending over them, the woman every bit thankful as she could check him over without the added inconvenience of water pounding on her and obscuring her vision. Hopefully the rain would fall minimally till they got inside her village.

She ascertained that nothing was damaged in her quest to right him and decided to clean his face as best she could so that his respiratory system wouldn't be damaged by any intake of mud in the lungs. Getting her canteen out of her pack, because the water was clean and it gave her better control over the flow, the kunoichi poured the water over his head and quickly wiped away the mud around his eyes, nose and mouth.

Turning around to put her canteen back, the young woman didn't notice the man open his eyes and stumble as he got his feet back under his control briefly. The young woman looked to the ground and noticed the man's feet move and quickly looked up to see dark eyes staring back at her.

"S-Sasuke?"

She was so surprised that she almost fell down but managed to gain control over herself again. Right now it didn't matter who he was, what she'd heard about him or what he had done, all that mattered was that here was a man who was in need of urgent medical attention. As her name faltered through his lips because of his semi-conscious state, it became obvious that he was in hardly in any condition to look after himself.

Still slightly off centre, Hinata shushed him as he tried to talk and hesitated as she went to touch his face again to clear the rest of the mud off. Seeing her intentions Sasuke barely managed a nod and she went about methodically cleaning his face and then neck.

After cleaning him off sufficiently enough to allow him to see and breathe and be more comfortable, Hinata finally looked into his eyes. He hadn't moved much, she could tell that he was drifting in and out but when she met his eyes he was conscious and lucid.

"I need to clean you're other injuries."

"Why?"

She wasn't sure what he meant by his question as he asked it through his bleeding lips and dry throat, so she opted for simple answers.

"You're hurt."

"Yes."

Seeing her patient drift back into unconsciousness the pale eyed kunoichi moved the former Konoha nin onto her back and moved sedately, so as not to jostle her charge, to the closest body of water. She had been to this lake many times to practice in private and it lay close to Konoha but far enough away that there was no cause for concern. The rain had stopped completely for the moment but she knew that a storm was nearing and knew she had take care of his immediate needs and then move him somewhere sheltered. Thankfully near the lake, which had no name so far as she knew, an old shack lay hidden under dense foliage, she had once come across it accidentally when someone had almost caught her training naked on the surface of the water. It was the perfect place to put the Uchiha, away from prying eyes and hidden from the elements.

She understood too well that there was no way that she could bring him into Konoha now. She was not sure that the other nin in the village would care to nurse the young man _before_ they questioned him and locked him up. Not knowing what to do, unsure of the consequences, and worried about the state of his body, the pale eyed woman decided that for now she would take care of the injured Uchiha until he was well and then bring him into the village. She'd console her conscience after he was better.

Reaching the lake, the Hyuuga put down her burden at the water's edge. Once he was comfortably settled she took off her jacket to put under his head and rolled up her pants to gather more water in her canteen to clean the man lying before her. After filling her canteen, she placed her hair to one side of her face and gingerly poured the cool water on the arm closest to her. There were scars as well as fresh cuts, skin that had healed itself irregularly without the help of a medic or even stiches. The flesh there was rough and ridged to touch and she had to be careful not to mistake them for mud as she picked away at the earth that had hardened itself on him in the sun. What she would do for some simple alcohol.

Finished with the first arm she moved to his hand, carefully rubbing away at the dirt, trying hard not to cause him undue hurt but trying to hurry so she could beat the weather. When she had finished with his arm and hand and had moved on from his leg and on to his feet, she couldn't help but gasp in shock, her face paling.

His feet were damaged beyond imagining.

The skin had torn away from most of the heel and balls of his feet, leaving bone, red-brown from the blood and the mud. She didn't even want to imagine the damage that he had done to his ligaments and tendons.

It was a miracle he had lasted as long as he had on foot.

She decided to finish the rest of his body before going about the extreme job of tending to his feet. If he was going to wake, it would be then, when the most extreme pain would be given to him from her and she would rather he wake when the other injuries had been tended to.

So she moved on to his other arm and other leg and peeled back the little material that covered his chest. Deep gashes were here too, the mud, for once, acting in a healing way, stopping the blood from oozing out. Not wanting to damage him she left the mud, which was hardening on his chest, keeping in mind to get rather heavy bandages from the hospital as soon as she could leave him safely by himself.

Finally, after a few hours of cleaning and tending, the Hyuuga turned all her attention to the Uchiha's feet.

Sweat streamed off her brow, the sun, though heading to the horizon, started to inflict its horrible humidity once again and resumed its strangling grasp on her breaths; even with the brief rain that had come she was incredibly tired. The cool water did much to alleviate most of the heat for her patient and she was grateful for that small mercy for the man who had already gone through so much already; especially as she was about to clean the most afflicted part of his body.

After refilling her canteen, the Hyuuga rummaged into her medic kit, taking out the last of her smaller bandages. The pale eyed kunoichi knelt by the feet of her patient, tenderly lifting one foot on to her lap, trying hard not to jostle him too much, keeping the wounds on his ankle from pressing into her too uncomfortably.

Slowly she poured the cool water over his left foot, washing the mud and sticks away from the top of his foot as she activated her second sight again. He moaned and tried to crawl away. Unable to do anything else and worried that he might do more damage to himself, the Hyuuga looked up at the unhinged young man and softly apologised as she leant up and pressed her chakra infused fingertips to the back of the Uchiha's spinal column, essentially knocking him out. Her eyes, still able to see his interior body map, almost shut closed as she suppressed a small shudder at the amount of damage visible to her and gripped the heel of her foot in sympathy for the pain that the Uchiha must have gone through.

Clenching her teeth together she got to work.

Removing the sticks that gotten caught in his feet, flicking away the hardened dirt from the bone, tending to the veins and ligaments that were damaged beyond her help, especially with what little she had on her, almost made her violently sick. But she managed to keep it together and loosely bound his feet in bandages after she had done all she could, the blood on her hands and pieces of skin on her pants went unnoticed as she stood up, wincing at the tightness of her muscles.

The sun had just gone down and Hinata managed to put aside her aches and the tiredness that made her slightly sway, moving to pick up the Uchiha who was thankfully still unconscious and staggered to the shack, praying that there was at least a table able to hold the avenger in there.

She was pleasantly surprised and on guard as soon as she opened the door.

Inside was a chimney place, a bed with covers, a table with chairs and a sink. Everything was clean and nothing was in disrepair or falling apart. Walking over to the sink after trying to gently lay down the unconscious missing nin onto the bed, she found that the water was running clean and clear.

Someone obviously either lived here or had just left it.

Having nothing to do but hope for the best, the Hyuuga made sure that Sasuke was as comfortable as he could be and then placed the tables and chairs in front of the door so as to stop the owner if only for a small amount of time. Pausing on the windowsill, before going back to the village to gather more medical supplies, she looked back and contemplated writing a note in case someone did come but stopped herself and quickly jumped away, trying to get to the village and back to the shack before her body gave up on her.

With each flying leap she made, Hinata imagined an artery becoming clogged with mud or the bandages becoming soaked with blood or a stranger bursting open the door and killing her patient. Strengthened by these thoughts she reached the gates of Konoha, flying over the walls and briefly waving at the gate's guards and jumping from building to building before she got to the hospital.

Once inside the medical institution, Hinata went to the nurses' station, trying to act as normal as she possibly could, waiting for her turn to get some supplies from the nurse who's back was to Hinata behind the desk.

Turning around, the Hyuuga cursed her luck as a certain pink haired kunoichi smiled brightly at her.

"Hi Hinata-chan! How are you today?"

"I'm good thank you Sakura-chan, and you?"

"Oh you know, can't complain, how was your mission?"

Mission? It felt like that happened weeks ago, Hinata struggled to remember the details as she replied back to the talented healer nin.

"It went well, thank you for asking Sakura-chan," Hinata politely replied.

"Well, you're probably here for some medical supplies, ne?"

"Please Sakura-chan, that would be great."

"Sure thing," the pink haired medic nin smiled at her friend, "what do you need?"

The Hyuuga listed the things that she needed and hoped that it wouldn't seem suspicious and was thankful that Sakura didn't even raise an eyebrow as she went to get everything that Hinata had asked for, packing them in her bag for her.

Placing a piece of paper in front of the white eyed kunoichi, Sakura held out a pen, "You just need to sign here for everything I've given you."

Hinata nodded and went to grab the pen when the pink haired young woman gasped.

"Hinata! What happened?"

Confused, Hinata followed the gaze of her friend and bit back an annoyed sigh as she saw the blood on her hands.

"It's ok Sakura-chan," Hinata quickly took hold of the pen from the still outstretched hand of her friend and signed her name hurriedly on the paper, "it's not mine."

"Well if you're sure you're ok."

The dark haired young woman nodded her head and smiled tentatively at the young nurse, thanking her quietly as she took her newly replenished pack with one hand and hid her other hand behind her back as she moved out of the room and made her way to the missions room to sign that her task had been completed successfully.

Hopefully she wouldn't be asked any questions because it was hard to think rationally when she was covered in the blood and pieces of a fugitive nin, waiting for her help outside the border of her country.

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**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


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